


flame

by nonopiimagines



Series: Femslash February [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drinking, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, Golden Deer Byleth, Sharing a Bed, a follow-up to her a-rank support conversation, black eagles manuela
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25669933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonopiimagines/pseuds/nonopiimagines
Summary: Byleth and Manuela let their girls' night last longer than usual.
Relationships: Manuela Casagranda/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Femslash February [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399714
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	flame

It was quiet now. Maneula had tapered off, the wine ushering her into a sleepy state. The gossip and anecdotes that started the night seemed so far away and now it was just the crackling fire in the fireplace and themselves. This is where it normally ends, Byleth helps her into bed and bids her farewell and she falls into a deep, dreamless sleep and wakes up with an awful headache. 

But it was different tonight. Byleth sat closer to her than she had on other nights, both of them slouched on the too-squishy couch, Manuela eventually sliding her head into her colleague’s lap. She had never felt more safe with someone. She had never felt such a closeness with someone. If only you were a man. Those words kept replaying in her head. Such a strange thing to say. But she was speaking from her heart at the time, because she knew that if Byleth were a man, she would be all over her. Perhaps she would’ve even chased her away by now… 

She felt a hand touch her hair lightly, then with bolder intentions, carding fingers through her light brown locks. Manuela closed her eyes, feeling a sudden rush of emotions stuck in her throat, threatening to spill into tears. It had been a while, but she knew love when she felt it, bleeding through the fingertips that slowly traced the curve of her bob, that whispered down her neck, and grazed against her ear. And she knew love when she felt it, touching someone, trusting them enough to lay against them, to feel them shift so softly, so minutely that they don’t disturb you because they love you. And she knew love when she felt it because she felt safe enough to let the emotion go, to let it leave her in little huffs, muffled by the thighs she lay upon, her own hands curled up by her mouth, occasionally wiping away tears and snot when they became too much. 

And when all was quiet again, it was still just them and the fire, still burning, still crackling, still alive. 

When she was ready to confront the stillness, she didn’t move, she didn’t want to look Byleth in the eye, afraid of what she might find there even after everything. But she spoke, confident, though her voice was still shaky and rough, “It’s getting late. You probably want to head back to the dorms, right, professor?”

Byleth was as still as stone beneath her, her hand pausing at the base of her neck. “I don’t know,” she said eventually, the indecisiveness not like her. Manuela smiled sadly. “I don’t want to leave. But if you want me to go, I’ll go.” 

“Don’t want girls’ night to end, hm?” She tried to play it off, unsure if she was ready to admit what just happened and why. She was confused and tired and not entirely sober, perhaps she’d wake up tomorrow and everything would just make sense. 

Byleth chuckled. “Something like that.” Her hand moved from her neck to her shoulder and Maneula missed the heat and the weight and the caress. “I can go.”

Manuela finally picked herself up, twisting so she was face-to-face with her colleague, her friend, her… what did she want her to be? Who was Byleth to her? Some would say they were friends, and if they could see them now, they would say _close_ friends. And maybe their students would agree with that, Claude and Edelgard swapping knowing glances but agreeing nonetheless. But she didn’t have many friends, and what friends she did have weren’t like this. They didn’t stay with her far into the night, long after normal friends would make excuses to leave, despite the falter in her self-medicated smile. Byleth wasn’t like anyone else. And she didn’t want her to be.

She felt her cheeks heat up, realizing she was getting closer to the answer. Still unsure but she could solve this problem so easily. It would only take seconds and all she would have to do is move forward slowly, staring up into sea-foam eyes, letting her lips brush up against hers. Just a test. 

“Manuela.” She was still as stone, but so warm and close. No one had said her name like that in a long time, soft and begging for answers. “Tell me what you want me to do.” 

“I don’t know,” the words tumbled out of her mouth. She’d never done this before. All she’s ever known is men want her and women want to be her. Everyone loves her for her voice, for her beauty, for her body. No one just wants her. Her flaws are too great to be ignored; she’s too much to be loved. “I don’t know.” She said it again, hoping the silence would bless her with an answer. 

Byleth’s hand was on her cheek in a heartbeat and she wanted to cry all over again. She screwed her eyes shut, willing the tears away, holding Byleth’s hand to her face like a lifeline. She breathed in and out, in and out. The other woman’s thumb on her cheek rubbing little circles, letting her know this is okay. This is okay. This is patience. This is love. This is acceptance.

“Let’s go to bed,” Byleth whispered, slipping her arms around her shaking shoulders and under her bent knees. All she could do was nod, keeping her eyes closed she felt her body being lifted, her head falling onto strong shoulders. She smelled nice.

Byleth laid her down gently onto her unmade bed. Manuela caught her arm before she could move away, her eyes sliding open and up her arm to find a smile.

“Will you help me out of my robe?” A line she had used on many men before, but it didn’t share the same meaning here. She wanted her touch on her, the warmth of familiar hands someplace new. Byleth didn’t hesitate, pulling the tie holding it closed, trails of her fingertips igniting across her shoulders, pulling the sleeves off one at a time, leaving just her slip behind. 

Sleep was pulling her head toward her pillow, her hands pulling the duvet over her bare legs and arms, but still she wanted warmth. A definitive answer could come later, but she knew she didn’t want Byleth to leave. “Will you stay the night?” Will you hold me? The real question.

Even in the dying light of the fire, Manuela could see the blush light up Byleth’s face. She looked surprised and then worried. “Are you sure?”

“Does the mess deter you?” The wine was wearing off and her insecurities were slipping in. She pressed the covers to her chin, wanting nothing more than to feel the safety she had felt on the couch, staring into the fire, fingers carding through her hair.

“Has it ever?” she asked with a laugh. “Nothing could deter me from you.” 

It was her turn to laugh. “Nothing?” She wanted to believe it. She always did. Hundreds of failed relationships and she was still quick to hope that love could be unconditional. 

Byleth just shook her head, already removing each intricate piece of jewelry and clothing she wore and piling them neatly on the couch. “Nothing.” 

Manuela’s eyes were glued to her form, the way her arms moved to put up her hair, the way her scars would shine differently in the firelight, the way she stumbled around to get her lace stockings off her long legs. She still didn’t know what to make of this woman who wanted nothing more than to be near her. And she still didn’t know what she wanted for herself and her relationship with Byleth. But as her body slid underneath the covers and scooted closer to her, a hand snaking across her waist to lace their fingers together, she knew that she felt happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this for femslash february, finished it up a few months ago, and I'm finally posting it now!! I move at a truly glacial pace. Manuela x Byleth 4ever. <3
> 
> find me on tumblr @nonopiimagines


End file.
